Yesterday, one of my cohorts(Ed Kipp) was at his local candy store and found a bottle of sassafras extract. He asked if I wanted to use it at the restaurant. I said.....words that I can't publish here.
Today, Ed brought in the extract and we decided to make a syrup. Ed also infused this syrup with a little bit of vanilla extract. Our vanilla extract comes from Singing Dog Vanilla....and it is extremely tasty.
At the end of the night, we decided that it was time to try out this syrup in various ways. The first stop was to infuse a White Russian with it. This yielded a drink that tasted extremely similar to a root beer float.
The second drink we tried involved: Stoli Vanilla Vodka, sassafras syrup, and soda. This delightful concoction tasted very similar to cream soda and was one of my favs.
The third sassafras inspired drink involved: Absolut Mandrin Vodka, "sassy" syrup, and a splash of cola. This drink yielded something very similar to a Creamsicle. We later added a little bit of half/half.
All of the above would make great "girl" drinks(sorry ladies). They are potent versions of childhood favorites. And yes Samuel Jackson, they will get you drunk!!!!!
We also talked about incorporating these flavors into a mint julep. How refreshing it would be to on one of these sassafras twinged juleps while listening to A.A. Bondy's- "Vice Rag"(one of my favorite songs right now).
Exploring the flavor of sassafras again has made me yearn to incorporate its goodness into other aspects of the kitchen.
I am so looking forward to Spring. There are so many flavors that I want to be able to use in cocktails and fun dishes.
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